Reclining chairs



Jan. 5, 1960 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,919,745

RECLJINING CHAIRS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 20. 1957 INVENTORFRIDTJOF F SCHLIEPHACKE I 7 ATT RNEY Jan. 5, 1960 F. F/SCHLIEPHACKE 2,91

RECLINING CHAIRS 3 Sheets-She'et 2 Filed March 20, 1957 m WW v Nut w QMm uw M w BY 1 21 LAVA,

ATTORNEY F. FI'SCHLIEPHACKE 2,919,745

RECLINING CHAIRS Jan. 5, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 20, 1957 FIG.3.

INVENTOR FRIDTJOF F. SCHLIEPHACKE 7 4 ATTORNEY States Patent RECLININGCHAIRS Fridtjof F. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, asslgnorto Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Application March 20, 1957, Serial No. 647,267

'5 Claims. (Cl. 155106) This invention relates to chairs and pertainsparticularly to reclining chairs having .a leg rest which moves intoposition to support the legs as the chair moves into reclining position.

It is an object of the invention to provide a reclining chair of thetype described which is extremely simple in construction and which isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes ofillustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of a chair embodying the invention, oneside frame of the chair being broken away, the chair being shown inupright position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the chair in reclining position.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view, showing in detail the mannerin which the leg rest is connected to the seat, the chair being shown inupright position.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a partial side elevation showing a modified form of slidingsupport for the rear portion of the seat.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figures 1 to 4 thereof,the chair comprises a base comprising two spaced side frames 1 and 2which may be rigidly connected together in any suitable manner, as bythe connecting frames 3, 3a. The side frames may be of any suitableconstruction, wood or metal, and may be upholstered or not, as desired.

Located between the side frames 1 and 2 and supported thereon is areclining seat unit comprising a seat 4 and a backrest 5. The seat andbackrest may be of any suitable construction, wood or metal, and may beupholstered or not, as desired. As shown, the seat is of conventionalupholstered construction having side frames 6 and 7 and connecting frame8 supporting upholstered cushion 9. The side frames 6 and 7 extendparallel to the frames 1 and 2 but are spaced inwardly therefrom.

The rear portion of the seat unit is mounted on the side frames fortranslational, reciprocating movement with respect thereto. Thus, in theform shown in Figures 1 to 4, a pair of tracks 11 are rigidly mounted onthe side frames 1 and 2 in position to engage the rollers 33 and 34mounted on brackets 31 and 32 connected to frames 6 and 7. The tracks 11are provided with upturned flanges 17 at the ends thereof to limit thetranslational movement of the seat unit thereon.

The leg rest 21 is also of any suitable construction, either upholsteredor not, as desired. In the embodiment illustrated, the leg rest isupholstered and includes side frames 22, to each of which is rigidlysecured one of the ends of one of the L-shaped levers 24, the other endsof which are pivotally connected to the actuating links 37. The otherends of links 37 are pivotally connected to the side frames 6 and 7 bypivot pins 38. At points intermediate the ends of the levers 24, theyare pivotally connected to the side frames 1 and 2 by means of bolts 28.Thus, the leg rest is mounted on fixed pivots 28 on the side frames, andwhenever the seat unit is moved with respect to the base unit, the legrest, through the actuating links 37, will be caused to swing on thefixed pivots as indicated in Figure 2.

In the upright position of the chair as illustrated in Figure l, the legrest is in its retracted position beneath the seat. In this position theleg rest is almost entirely concealed by the side frames and the seat,and permits unobstructed access to and from the seat when one is sittingdown or arising from the seat. Whenever one sitting in the chair exertsbackward pressure against the seat unit, as by pressing forwardlyagainst the side frames, the seat unit will move backwardly on thetracks 11, as indicated in Figure 2. In doing so the backward movementof the seat unit, acting through the links 37, will cause the levers 24and 25 to swing on their fixed pivots 28 and 29, thus causingthe legrest to swing to the position shown in Figure 2. In the embodimentillustrated the leg rest swings through an arc of about to to bring theleg rest almost to horizontal position in front of the seat unit inposition to support the users legs. If, now, when the chair is thus inreclining position, it is desired to resume upright position, it is onlynecessary to exert slight downward pressure on the leg rest,accompanied, if desired, by backward pressure against the side frames 1and 2 to cause the leg rest to swing under the seat.

Brackets 31 and 32 carrying the rollers 33 and 34 which engage thetracks 11 and 12 extend below the tracks and are provided with studs 35and 36 which engage the under surfaces of the tracks in order to lockthe seat unit to the base so that they will not separate if, forexample, the chair is lifted by the seat unit.

The seat unit is also connected to the side frames 1 and 2 through links41 which are pivotally connected to the side frames by bolts 42 and tothe seat frames by studs 43 on brackets 44-. If desired, stops 45 and45a may be secured to the side frames 1 and 2 in position to limit themotion of the links 41.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the support for the rear portion of theseat unit may be modified by securing the tracks 4-6 to the seat frames,as shown, and mounting rollers 47 on the side frames of the base. Bymaking the tracks a part of a bracket 48 having a C-shaped flange 4-9thereon, the seat unit may be locked to the base as previouslydescribed.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified andembodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reclining chair comprising a base unit having opposed, spaced sideframes, a seat unit located between said side frames, means for mountingsaid seat unit on said base unit for translational movement with respectthereto, aleg rest located between said side frames and mounted on fixedpivots on said side frames, and means connecting said leg rest to saidseat unit to cause said leg rest to swing on its fixed pivots as saidseat unit moves with respect to said base unit, said means comprising apair of levers and a pair of actuating links, each of said levers havingone end rigidly connected to one side of said leg rest and its other endpivotally connected to one end of one of said actuating links, with theother end of said actuating link pivotally connected to the same side ofsaid seat unit, said links being movable with respect to said seat unitand in which said fixed pivots extend through an intermediate portion ofsaid lever.

2. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivotalconnections of said links to said levers and to said seat unit lie abovesaid fixed pivots and said leg rest lies below said fixed pivots.

3. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivotalconnections of said links to said levers and to said seat unit lie abovesaid fixed pivots and said leg rest lies below said fixed pivots, and inwhich said leg rest, at one limit of its pivotal movement, is locatedentirely beneath said seat unit, and at the other limit of its pivotalmovement is located in substantially horizontal position in front ofsaid seat unit.

4. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which said leg rest, atone limit of its pivotal movement, is located entirely beneath said seatunit, and at the other limit of its pivotal movement is located insubstantially horizontal position in front of said seat unit.

5. A reclining chair comprising a base unit having opposed, spaced sideframes, a seat unit located between said side frames, means for mountingsaid seat unit on said base unit for translational movement with respectthereto, a leg rest located between said side frames, and

means connecting said leg rest to said seat unit comprising a pair oflevers, each of said levers having one end rigidly connected to one sideof said leg rest and having an intermediate point pivotally mounted onone of said side frames, and a pair of actuating links, each of saidactuating links having one end connected to the other end of one of saidlevers and the other end pivotally connected to said seat unit, saidlinks being movable with respect to said seat unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS268,941 Sands Dec. 12, 1882 607,293 Streit July 12, 1898 FOREIGN PATENTS39,568 France Nov. 30, 1931 158,394 Germany Feb. 22, 1905 703,449 FranceFeb. 9, I931.

